increase in gross written premiums for the third quarter to September 30, when compared to the same period last year.

But the soft and competitive insurance market, more evident in the first half of the year, has brought nine month figures down considerably.

Gross written premiums for the third quarter were $26,702,000, as opposed to $23,238,000 for the comparative period last year. Net written premiums were $26,069,000, up from $22,435,000 and earned premiums were $21,598,000, down from $25,790,000.

Senior vice president, marketing, Clint Greene, said the increase in written premium resulted mainly from concentrating on current lines of business, the impact of their recently released expanded liability policy form, the publication by A.M. Best of Starr Excess' first rating as A (Excellent) and continual conversion to longer term policies.

He said the result was a sharp change from the first two quarters where there was a reduction in written premium, mainly due to market conditions.

Mr. Greene added the number of policies written in the first nine months of the year was comparable to the number written during the same period last year.

But he said, "We don't expect the third quarter trend to continue in the last quarter. The fourth quarter is going to be very difficult just like the first two quarters.

"Overall premium for the year will be down. There is no doubt about it. We certainly hope that the things that we were able to accomplish in the third quarter will impact the fourth quarter, but we also know that the market remains very soft, and in fact may be softer.'' Asked if any consideration was being given to the expansion into other lines of business, he responded, "A great deal of consideration has been given to it, but there is a great deal of determination not to. What others call their core business is our only business.

"Our efforts are to take those lines and do some expansion, as we announced this week.'' Senior vice president, underwriting, Mike Bouris, said, "Starr Excess continues to work with brokers and buyers around the world to expand its products and to develop and maintain long term relationships.'' For the nine months, gross written premiums plummeted 21 percent from $83,443,000 to $65,884,000. Net written premiums declined nearly 22 percent from $82,640,000 to $64,583,000 and earned premiums were down to $67,900,000 from $74,693,000.

Operating income for the third quarter improved 36 percent to $9.5 million and the combined ratio improved from 97 percent to 94.9 percent.

Over the three quarters, operating income shot up 22 percent to $23.8 million when compared to last year. The combined ratio remained stable from 96.3 percent to 96.9 percent.

The privately-owned Starr Excess rarely releases net income figures through the year.

The insurer is reporting record levels of assets to September 30 at $613.5 million and record shareholders' equity of $299.1 million.

Mr. Greene said there were still no losses reported that required a specific case basis reserve or payment.

Starr Excess announced on Wednesday a new excess umbrella product designed as a basket policy for directors & officers (D&O), professional indemnity (PL), employment practices and fiduciary liability coverages for middle market companies ($100 million to $1 billion in assets).

It is the first time that middle market companies will have access to basket coverage for these important exposures.

Starr Excess Liability Insurance Co., Ltd. offers excess general liability, D&O liability and professional liability insurances to the world's major corporations.

It underwrites all business from Bermuda, but maintains a service company in London. The company issues policies with a minimum attachment point of $25 million and offers capacity of up to $25 million for professional, $50 million for D&O and $150 million for general liability.